Duck Confit

Method

1. Cure the duck legs by rubbing each leg generously with kosher salt and black pepper on all sides. Place in a single layer in a baking dish. Scatter the smashed garlic, thyme, and bay leaves over and around the legs. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 24-48 hours. The salt draws moisture from the surface through osmosis, then the brine is reabsorbed, seasoning the meat deep into the flesh. This is the same principle behind dry-brining a steak or curing bacon.

2. Rinse and dry the cured duck legs under cold water to remove excess salt. Pat completely dry with paper towels. The surface should feel firm and slightly tacky — this means the cure worked. Discard the aromatics from the cure.

3. Arrange the duck legs in a single snug layer in a Dutch oven. Add fresh garlic, thyme, and bay leaves. Melt the duck fat and pour it over the legs — they should be completely submerged. If you're short on fat, arrange the legs as tightly as possible to minimize the amount needed.

4. Cook at 285°F for 3-4 hours with the lid slightly ajar. The fat should barely bubble — if it's actively simmering, your oven is too hot. The duck is done when the meat pulls away from the bone easily and a skewer slides through the thickest part with zero resistance. The low temperature and long time break down the collagen without toughening the protein fibers.

5. Cool the duck in the fat. You can serve it immediately or store it submerged in fat in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. The fat creates an airtight seal that preserves the meat — this is the original purpose of confit, a technique developed in Gascony before refrigeration existed.

6. Crisp the skin when ready to serve. Remove the duck legs from the fat and scrape off excess. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat (no additional fat needed — the duck has plenty). Place the legs skin-side down and cook for 3-4 minutes until the skin is deeply golden and shatteringly crispy. The contrast between the crispy skin and the silky, fall-apart meat underneath is what makes confit one of the great dishes of French cooking.

7. Serve with frisée salad dressed in a warm vinaigrette (classic bistro pairing), roasted potatoes cooked in the duck fat, or lentils. The rich, unctuous duck needs something acidic and green to balance it.

Equipment

• Dutch oven or deep oven-safe pot Recommended: Lodge 6-Quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven · Also good: Lodge 6-Quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven
• Cast iron skillet (for crisping) Recommended: Lodge 12-Inch Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet
• Tongs Also good: Wok Spatula
• Cast iron skillet Recommended: Lodge 12-Inch Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Skillet
• Dutch oven Recommended: Lodge 6-Quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven · Also good: Lodge 6-Quart Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven
• 9x13 baking dish
• Metal or wooden skewers

Chef Notes

• The most important thing: The salt cure is not optional. Salting the duck legs for 24-48 hours draws out moisture, seasons the meat throughout, and changes the texture — cured duck confit has a silky, almost ham-like quality that uncured duck doesn't achieve.
• Cook at 285°F, not higher. Confit is not braising — it's a gentle, slow cook in fat that preserves the meat. Higher temperatures toughen the protein. The duck should barely simmer in the fat.
• You can substitute olive oil for duck fat in a pinch, but the flavor won't be the same. Duck fat is available at most specialty grocery stores or online. Save and reuse it — confit fat can be strained and reused 3-4 times.
• The final crisping step is what makes confit magical. After hours of gentle cooking, the skin crisps in a hot skillet in 3-4 minutes, creating a shattering crust over impossibly tender meat.
• Confit keeps for weeks submerged in fat in the refrigerator. This was the original purpose — confit is a preservation technique from southwest France, developed before refrigeration.

Common Substitutions

Ingredient	Substitution	Notes
Duck fat	Olive oil or lard	Olive oil works but changes the flavor — lard is closer to duck fat
Duck legs	Chicken thighs (bone-in, skin-on)	Chicken confit is a real thing — reduce cook time to 2-2.5 hours
24-48 hr cure	4-6 hr quick cure	Less flavor penetration but still better than no cure
Fresh thyme	1 tsp dried thyme	Dried works fine in the cure and the cooking fat
Cast iron for crisping	Broiler, 4-6 inches from element	Watch closely — skin crisps in 3-4 min under a hot broiler

What You're Practicing

Confit is one of the oldest preservation techniques in cooking — submerging meat in fat to create an airtight seal that prevents spoilage. Understanding this technique connects you to centuries of culinary history and teaches you how fat, salt, and time transform protein. The same principles appear in rillettes, potted meats, and oil-preserved vegetables. Visit Brines, Cures & Marinades for more on salt curing.

The two-stage cooking approach — slow and gentle first, then high heat to crisp — is a pattern that appears throughout professional cooking. Sous vide + sear, braised then broiled, confit then pan-fried. Learning to separate the "cooking through" step from the "crisping" step gives you more control over texture than any single-method approach. See Techniques for more.